Defense, broken plays propel Orange

Published: Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 01:22 AM.

Trailing by six points with 4:20 to go in the game following Eastern Alamance’s only touchdown, Motley and the Panthers offense responded with two more dazzling creations on two more broken plays.

Facing third down on his own 33-yard line, Motley was forced to scramble from the pocket. Standing open and frantically waving his arms for the ball on the left sideline was Pittman. Motley, on the run, lobbed the ball up for Pittman, completing the pass for 47 yards and setting up the Panthers on the Eagles’ 20-yard line.

Two plays later, Motley created a touchdown with his feet, scrambling 20 yards to the left corner of the end zone dodging three Eagles defenders.

“I looked left, looked right and nobody was open,” Motley said. “Then I saw a big hole and was able to just take off.”

Orange ran 52 plays in the game for 214 yards. Of those 52 plays, three of them went for 119: Motley’s first touchdown pass of 52 yards and his 47-yard pass to Pittman that set up the game-winning 20-yard run.

“That was Sean Motley making a play,” Moser said. “When Sean has to scramble, our receivers will break and try to get open and that’s what happened on the first scoring play. Then down here at the end, it kept our drive alive when he was flushed out and our receiver made an adjustment and he found Jalen Pittman, then the last play was just a beautiful play by Sean.”

Motley finished with 135 yards through the air, with 101 of those going to Pittman on three receptions.

MEBANE — Behind what Orange coach Pat Moser is calling his team’s best defensive performance of the season and two broken plays, the Panthers knocked off Eastern Alamance on Friday night in the third round of the Class 3-A state playoffs.

“That was a battle of two really good defenses,” Moser said. “We had four shutouts this season and considering the level of competition here, I’d have to say that (this game) is our best defensive effort of the year.”

The 14-13 outcome earned the Panthers a trip to face top-seeded Havelock, which topped Washington 57-7 last night to earn the spot in the fourth round, next week.

Though Eastern Alamance tallied 17 first downs and 291 total yards of offense, the Panthers forced four turnovers from the Eagles, including three interceptions of senior quarterback Josh Long.

The first interception of Long came on the third play of the game when he attempted a pass over the middle that bounced off the hands of his intended receiver and into the waiting arms of junior linebacker Nic Schultz.

Three plays later on third down, Orange senior quarterback Sean Motley turned a broken play into a stunning 52-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Jalen Pittman.

“It was a rollout to the left and I thought he had me at first because he grabbed me,” Motley said. “Then I was just able to get off of him and was able to find my receiver down the field wide open.”

Trailing by six points with 4:20 to go in the game following Eastern Alamance’s only touchdown, Motley and the Panthers offense responded with two more dazzling creations on two more broken plays.

Facing third down on his own 33-yard line, Motley was forced to scramble from the pocket. Standing open and frantically waving his arms for the ball on the left sideline was Pittman. Motley, on the run, lobbed the ball up for Pittman, completing the pass for 47 yards and setting up the Panthers on the Eagles’ 20-yard line.

Two plays later, Motley created a touchdown with his feet, scrambling 20 yards to the left corner of the end zone dodging three Eagles defenders.

“I looked left, looked right and nobody was open,” Motley said. “Then I saw a big hole and was able to just take off.”

Orange ran 52 plays in the game for 214 yards. Of those 52 plays, three of them went for 119: Motley’s first touchdown pass of 52 yards and his 47-yard pass to Pittman that set up the game-winning 20-yard run.

“That was Sean Motley making a play,” Moser said. “When Sean has to scramble, our receivers will break and try to get open and that’s what happened on the first scoring play. Then down here at the end, it kept our drive alive when he was flushed out and our receiver made an adjustment and he found Jalen Pittman, then the last play was just a beautiful play by Sean.”

Motley finished with 135 yards through the air, with 101 of those going to Pittman on three receptions.

“Sean can run,” Moser said. “He’s a playmaker and he’s a winner and he’s the leader of this team. There at the end where he scrambled out and scored, that was just all Sean Motley. That’s all I can say. That’s a great team and a great defense and a very good coaching staff. We did a great job.”